Aldon Smith quick and violent hands as a pass rusher, Keeps his feet moving, Improved greatly as an outside rusher with ability to get low and bend the edge – Smith has deceptive strength, He’s much more powerful than he looks

49ers continued to play man coverage out of their nickel sub-package, When they went “man free” and Graham was split outside the numbers SS Whitner matched up

Goldson jumped out immediately on film, He was instinctive and aggressive, Played downhill very effectively

Goldson interception came out of nickel, Rogers slot blitz as part of zone exchange 4 man pressure; “Cover 3” concept in which Goldson rotated to single high, Brees did not account for Goldson

J. Smith plays with great leverage and strength on the inside, He jacked LG Nicks a couple of times

49ers were comfortable with LB Willis and Bowman man-to-man on Sproles and Graham

Thomas did not return after 1st series, Sproles played more snaps than game planned

A. Smith 1st quarter sack came out of nickel “man free lurk”, A great coverage versus Saints given how many balls Brees throws between the numbers in 3rd down situations

49ers very multiple with their man coverage concepts out of nickel, There were snaps in which FS Goldson played Sproles man-to-man

Graham 14 yd TD came out of “22” personnel, Sproles motioned out of the backfield to WR position; That created matchup of Graham on Willis inside, Brees great throw high and away from Willis to take advantage of Graham’s height

My sense watching tape was the 49ers played more zone out of their base 3-4, more man out of their nickel sub-package